Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-01-14
a DANGEROUS BUSINESS.
A Steeple-Cllmbcr Tells How lie Became
Accustomed 40 Ills Work.

With bated breath and upturned
faces large crowd stood the other day
watching "A man who was slowly
ascending the steeplc of an up town
church. He seemed TO go over the
delicate scailolding like snail. The
crowd below were expecting every mo-
ment TO see him fall. When he reached
the end of the scalolding and stood
upon piece of framework that looked
in the distance as If il was about foot
square. he leaned far over and shouted
something 10 another workman about
halfway down. The spectators shud-
dered but could not take their eyes
from the little climber who had left the
Scailolding and was still going up the
stceple. When he reached the top he
remained for "A few minutes, examined
the steeple on every side, and then re-
traced MS steps. When he got safely
back to the scatlold he waved his hand
TO the people and smiled. He went to
the top of the stceple several times in
the course of an hour and every time a
crowd gathered.
You think it hazardous?" said the
stecplc-climber TO reporter when he
talllt hOM IL W tllt ElOulu. 1uOuHl lt
looked so small when in the air. he was
considerably above the average height,
slim and wiry, all bone and muscle.
with a clear. steady eye and hand, and
perfect confidence in himself. HIS eyes
sparkled rs if he was IN love with the
work, as he continued: People who
are not used to being at great heights
and who feel dizzy when few feet
from the ground, naturally look with
wonder upon man working high up
in the air, aud think that he must feel
as they would | probably 20 upon
more steeples and other elevated places
TO adjust ornamental designs than any
other man in the business, and feel
just as much Mt home standing on n
narrow board two hundred feet from
the ground as | would on rock. | feel
a perfect sense of safety and never think
of falling.
but ! was not always without fear.
when | first began the business | al
ways started up the scaflolding with
trembling legs and n quaking heart,
and many times have not gone TO the
top but returned with some excuse for
not going up just then. An old man
who had been climber in his day saw
me on one Of these occasions when my
heart was weak, and gave me a bit of
advice that cured NY fainthear,edncss
i'm time. He said when starting up al
ways 10 fix your mind intentlv on the
work You are going to do, and keep
every thought of fear, or that some
thing is going to happen, out of your
mind. This was just the thing, and |
have found from experience that it is
thinking about fear that makes man
afraid and oycrcaution has given many
a poor fellow n tumble, where boldness
and seeming recklcssness would have
carried him through all right. There
are only a few expert climbers Hun
dreds quit the business in short time
because they can not overcome their
nervous dread. have seen stout
hearted fellows who would march up to
a lannon's mouth without quiycr,
when they 60, TO the place where the
scaliolding ends and from which point
they would have TO shin 10 the top,
try to step up, but ton of lead had
been hooked 10 their foot and j. would
not 20 up an inch.
II have known men who when they
got into a ticklish spot would have
black Specks come before their eyes
which would move up and down in a
circle, and they would fall down and
hug plank like n long-lost brother.
Their heads would seem TO be i'm a
whirl. This is where man gets rat
tied, and it requires the greatest exer-
else of the will 10 overcome this feeling.
have felt this way many times, and
even now sometimes have a sudden
desire when on the pinnacle OF a steeple
to jump OIL but always laugh at the
idea and it goes away as quickly as it
comes. \ man who drinks stimulants is
out OF place on stCcple, where q false
step will send him headlong a hundred
feet or more below. SO also is fat
man, for climber must be light, agile,
and muscular. Dark-haired men with
swarthy faces usually make the best
climbers.
Does it prevent dizziness when CO.
ing to a great height to keep the eyes
turned upward?'
This is popular notion, but there
Is nothing in il except that the atten-
ton is turned from the idea of falling,
and this will keep man from Stun
bling. But the place for the eyes is
upon the road TO be travelled to see that |
everything is in position \ high wind |
sometimes renders scailoiding unsafe |
and if man had his eve on the sky he |
would never see il. "
Did YOU ever fall?'
I've had many narrow escapes but |
only one good fall. This was about
seventy feet. had sick child home
and was thinking about her and was
absent minded | started off sideways
between the scailold and stecple and in
two or three seconds | was al the bot
tom. / thought would be killed. and
in n second my whole life flashed
through my mind and also the future of
my family and how they would all look
after the children were full grown. |
knew that | was humping against
the timbers of the scailold but there
was no pain and | was overcome APP
parently by a soothing influence and
never had more pleasant journey in
my life. 1t seemed as if | was falling